


The Embarrassing Truth of Crushes

by plirio



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bucky Barnes and the 21st Century, Bucky Barnes's Metal Arm, Bucky likes the helper bots, Cake pops, Domestic Avengers, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Not Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Compliant, Recovery, Team Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-22
Updated: 2015-12-22
Packaged: 2018-05-08 12:47:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5497580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plirio/pseuds/plirio
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony Stark is absolutely too old for crushes. Certainly too cool for it. He does not need to be this close to half a century spending so much of his brain power thinking about the fact that a beautiful man smiled at him today.</p>
<p>It’s embarrassing, that’s what it is.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Or, in which Bucky Barnes charms Tony, makes friends with robots and eats a lot of cake pops. There's also an attempt at world peace.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Embarrassing Truth of Crushes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bedemoned](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=bedemoned).



> Written for this year's Winteriron Holiday Exchange! For [Bedemoned](http://bedemoned.tumblr.com), who wanted something with Bucky's arm.
> 
> Thank you to Ivinne for the help as always, because Ivinne is amazing.
> 
> Also, most of this was written by hand, because I never get any inspiration by staring at a blank Word page, but give me a blank paper and a nice pen, and oh boy.
> 
> Unbetaed, because my beta has disappeared into the void.

Tony would like to state, for the record, that he’s in his forties. He’s in his forties, is a fully grown man who owns one of the largest, most successful companies in the world. He’s an adult with his own fortune. He fights crime and villains while wearing a pornographically beautiful flying suit of armor that he created. 

Tony is amazing, and a genius. He’s great. 

And absolutely too old for crushes. Certainly too cool for it. He does not need to be this close to half a century spending so much of his brain power thinking about the fact that a beautiful man smiled at him today.

It’s embarrassing, that’s what it is.

*

It disturbs Tony how quickly he gets used to having people living in his house.

It’s not that he doesn’t like it, he honestly does - which is in itself very disturbing too, he’s surrounded by people who mostly seem very unimpressed by how impressive he is, but still seem to like him anyway -, it’s just that he’s never alone.

There’s always someone in the living areas of the building, and for some reason Tony seems to be extra aware of it. He could go to the main Avengers floor, and there’d be someone there. People all over his home. People who talk, and sass him and steal the good coffee.

Barnes, though, is something else. And despite being a certified genius, it takes Tony a while to understand what he really feels about having Barnes in his house, about just everything having to do with Barnes. 

Feelings are boring and complicated and exhausting, but eventually Tony does get it.

*

It takes Barnes roughly two months to leave the apartment he shares with Steve on the 96th floor. According to Sam Wilson, it took Barnes almost three weeks to even allow Steve inside the little place he was living in Brooklyn - even though Steve seemed to camp right outside his door every day. 

And according to JARVIS, it took Barnes a week to even leave his own bedroom in the tower - which would explain Steve’s _sad and tired but braving it_ face those first few days.

The rest of the team didn’t get to meet him for almost two months though, because they were being _nice_ and _understanding_ and _respectful_. But honestly, if Tony had that many people waiting to meet him when he came home after Afghanistan, he’d never leave his room either. 

Steve still showed up often, sometimes he’d look exhausted and would mostly stare at nothing and give everyone painfully fake smiles, and sometimes he’d smile genuinely, in all his poster boy glory, and talk normally. The team didn’t pressure, avoided asking too many questions, and then proceeded to sigh in relief in those days when Steve showed up smiling.

Thankfully, after about a month and a half, Steve was almost always smiling, and he’d lost that whole aura of incredible exhaustion. Tony has no idea what kind of miracles Barnes was pulling out of his ass back then, especially those days where Steve looked like very patriotic happy eagles were braiding his hair in the morning, but whatever it was, it was very good.

*

“You think I should send them something?” Tony asks Bruce, who’s painstakingly sewing a button on a faded gray shirt while watching a documentary on chewing gum, apparently. The history of gum? Tony can’t even remember ever seeing Bruce chew gum.

“Like what?” 

“Scotch?”

“I don’t think alcohol is a good idea right now.” Bruce says, then hisses when he stabs himself with the needle.

“You’re right,” Tony sighs, he should get one of those gumball machines for Bruce’s birthday. “Scented candles? Pepper likes those.”

“Sure,” Bruce answers, absently. “I’m sure they’ll get a lot out of scented candles.”

“Aromatherapy, Banner!” He should get _Bruce_ some scented candles. “Calms the nerves!”

“I’m _sure_ what Sergeant Barnes really needs right now is some peppermint candles, Tony.”

“Maybe some pastries? From that coffee shop on the second floor?” Tony grabs the nearest control pad and changes the channel. “Steve eats like a bear, maybe Barnes’ the same. Super soldiers trash compactors.”

“That could be nice.”

“Bruce, I don’t know what I’d do without your help,” Tony says blandly. “I’d be lost without you.”

“I’m here for you, Tony,” Bruce says, reaching for the pad and changing back to the gum.

Tony orders four of everything edible the coffee shop has on menu, to be delivered warm, as soon as possible.

*

Natasha comes back from Washington, where she hopefully ruined the lives of American senators - honestly, Tony loves it when she does that, it’s one of the few things that are pure and beautiful in the world -, with Wilson in tow. She also brings with her a few dozen dad jokes that get Steve doubling over with laughter. Geriatric humor, _so delightful_.

Everybody’s gathered in the main living room, it’s a rainy Tuesday, and they decide to stay in and order a ridiculous amount of pizza to go with the ridiculous amount of beer Thor and Clint bought. 

It’s also the day Barnes decides to leave his cave.

The elevator dings, the doors open and Barnes steps out. 

They’re all too cool to go completely silent, obviously, but there’s suddenly a very tense atmosphere that Tony only ever witnesses when Pepper walks into a boarding meeting looking particularly pissed off.

Steve nods in the most fake casualness Tony’s ever seen, and says, “Hey, Buck.”

Barnes just nods, and continues standing close to the elevator, clearly trying to look blank and uncaring, but his chin is up like he’s daring anyone to tell him he shouldn’t be there, to question his presence.

Tony ends up being the one to break the tension, not because he enjoys poking at things to see what happens, but because he hates awkward moments, and he’s pretty sure that if they ruin this experience for Barnes, they’ll have three more months of Winter hiding in his room. Steve would never forgive them.

“There’s pizza over there,” Tony points at the table, “There’s beer and soda, and Natasha’s about to delight us with more terrible dad jokes, because she’s been fooled into thinking she’s funny.” He takes a bite of his own pizza and turns to Clint, who looks like he crammed two whole slices in his mouth and promptly forgot how to chew. “Was it you, Merida? Did you lie to her and tell her she was funny?”

“Did you hear the one about the pickle?” Clint asks, barely understandable around wet food. 

Barnes moves towards the pizza, slowly, a little unsure, and grabs two slices of Hawaiian before sitting as close to Steve one could sit while still keeping everyone else away. Steve looks like he’s about to burst into song.

“The pickle one is the one with the peanut butter?” Bruce asks, “Because that one is terrible.”

Natasha smiles and starts telling them the most disgusting joke a human being has come up with. It’s fantastic.

*

Sam’s in the elevator when Tony steps in after a meeting on the main R&D floor - where things sucked because people can’t seem to think big enough anymore in the 21st Century -, and he’s carrying a giant bag that smells like sugar and chocolate.

“Barnes needs to get more calories,” Sam says, shaking the bag a little, “Apparently he has a sweet tooth.”

“That’s good? I think,” Tony frowns, “I think Rhodey eats a lot of peanut butter when he’s in need of calories.”

“He eats it too. They both eat everything. And anything,” Sam says, “Barnes just prefers cake pops. Someone apparently fed him four of those a few weeks ago.”

Tony grins. “How’s he doing, anyway?” He asks, and frowns again because his phone’s vibrating and he needs a beer if he’s going to deal with more R&D people today. “He seemed fine on Tuesday.”

Sam shrugs and shakes his head and shrugs again, “He’s doing better,” he says, “I think he’s frustrated with the pace of his recovery.”

“Recovery is a bitch,” Tony says, nodding, when the elevator stops on the 96th floor. Sam nods back and steps out. 

*

It takes a while to get there, but Barnes leaves the tower sometimes. He stays in, except for the times where Steve manages to convince him to take a walk, go out and do something, grab a burger, watch people do things that people do at parks. Tony thinks it’s some sort of old people challenge, where you must walk around the block just to prove that your hips are still functional. And every time, after they come back, Barnes will lock himself in his room and stay there for the rest of the day, won’t even leave for the promise of candy, which he seems kind of addicted to.

Other than that, Barnes pretty much roams the tower, leaving his apartment without his patriotic bodyguard, to do things like go to the second floor where the coffee shop is and get a few cake pops. Sometimes, to go to the main living room and watch terrible B movies, looking horrified and fascinated with movies about space travel and robots. Even though he’s surrounded by actual interesting technology, in a tower with a real AI, with an actual prince from another planet as a - sometimes - neighbor. 

Some days he starts conversations, and will laugh, even if just a little, about the things Clint says, in conversations with Steve, listening to Sam’s stories. And once he even asked Thor to show him how he does his hair, and Natasha took pictures of Thor and Barnes looking very dignified with royal braids.

It isn’t until Barnes approaches Tony alone that things start. Things like emotions.

*

“I wanna see that arm,” Tony tells Butterfingers, “I want it so bad.” Butterfingers beeps at him, and hands him his claw. “No-- not! Not your arm, go over there, you menace.”

*

Barnes’ metal arm had a delay. It’s a minor one, typical of technology that ancient, and it needs repair. Tony would be lying if he said he’s not salivating with the idea of exploring that arm, just a little bit, but he keeps his cool until Barnes is comfortable enough with people and being touched, and actually approaches Tony about it. He’s watching closely for signs of pain, but Barnes mostly looks grumpy about the fact that his arm takes .4 seconds longer to obey than his normal one.

Still, Tony’s not expecting Barnes to show up at his workshop, right hand holding an amazing smelling paper bag stained with grease, left hand in his pocket, a small sheepish smile on his face.

“What can I do for you, Mr. Barnes?” Tony asks, while hoping, possibly praying for the answer to be related to that arm. Barnes hands him the bag, and alright, donuts and coffee. Tony already likes him. “Donuts and coffee?”

Barnes nods, “I’ve been told you’d give me your full attention if I gave you coffee. I figured, y’know, grease and sugar.”

“What? No cake pops?” 

Barnes rolls his eyes, “Maybe if you actually--” He stops and looks over Tony’s shoulder.

Tony turns, taking a casual sip of the coffee, trying to hide a smile. DUM-E and Butterfingers are reassembling an engine, tutting and sounding very exasperated with each other. 

“That’s DUM-E and Butterfingers,” Tony says and looks back at Barnes, who’s smiling delighted, unselfconscious. Tony gets why some days Steve looks so happy with the world, even Tony feels like smiling when Barnes looks like that. “They’re helper bots.” DUM-E looks up at the mention of his name, and comes over, still holding a wrench. “No-- I didn’t call-- Go back to work!” He tries, but Dum-E is too interested in Barnes, who does indeed look like someone who would completely spoil a terrible robot.

DUM-E hands Barnes the wrench, then pokes at his shirt and his metal arm and his hair, all very quickly while Barnes smiles and holds the wrench absently. “Hey, DUM-E, right? How’re you?” DUM-E pulls at his shirt, “Ah! Hey, no pulling, kid.”

Tony does smile then, can’t really help himself, “He’s gonna keep poking at you until you give him the wrench back. It’s his gimmick.” Barnes doesn’t give the wrench back though, just keeps smiling and staring. “So, how can my robots and I help you this fine--” He looks at the clock, “--afternoon?”

Barnes gives back the wrench and loses the smile. It’s a really sad moment in Tony’s life, so he takes a bite of one of the sugar glazed donuts. 

“Steve told me to-- Steve says you could do something about the delay.” He moves the metal arm, “It’s getting worse, and. Can you-- I mean, when you got the time?”

“I’ve got the time now, if you’re up for it.” Tony puts the coffee and the half eaten donut on the counter, “I was waiting for them to finish that engine, but they keep coming up with excuses, procrastinating.” Butterfingers beeps in outrage, “Don’t even!” Tony warns, “That should’ve been done an hour ago.”

Barnes smiles at him, “I thought JARVIS alone was amazing, but these are…” He gestures at the bots, “It’s incredible.” 

“I am, in fact, a genius, you know?” Tony says, and Barnes looks like he wants to roll his eyes, “Everything I do is incredible.”

“I’ve been told you made rollerblades for your suit.”

“So!” Tony claps his hands, “The arm’s got a delay, huh?”

*

It’s easy to find the source of the delay, but Tony realizes quickly that there’s no way for it to be done in one day. All the scans JARVIS does informs them that it’d take time just for Tony to figure out how to remove the plates without causing any sort of excruciating pain. 

Barnes leaves the workshop smiling, though, and promising DUM-E to return. 

Tony knows the work won’t be done in a day, not even every day for a couple of days, especially with how hard it is for Barnes to have the arm messed with in the first place. He’s prepared for the work to be on and off, and maybe even some days when he’ll have to stop halfway through, and Barnes will run and hide and avoid Tony, or people in general.

Tony stays, eats the rest of the donuts and thinks very seriously about how to open those plates and how important it is to make that man comfortable, to make him smile.

*

Barnes does return a couple of days later, this time sans donuts, but with a small bag of candied cashews. 

“You don’t need to pay me with food to get me to work that arm, Barnes.” Tony says, but he’s already opening the bag and eating a handful of them. “It’s my genuine pleasure to poke at you.”

Barnes winks at him, and Tony needs unbearable strength to hold back a grin. “It’s only polite,” Barnes says with a shrug and a smirk, “You bring a present to the host.”

“Very old school.”

“You’re forty-five.”

“And you’re ninety-five.”

“Yeah,” Barnes shrugs again, “But I look like I’m just approaching thirty, while you…”

Tony makes a wounded noise and clutches at his chest. “So rude, Barnes, so rude.”

“Don’t worry, sweetheart, you don’t look a day over forty-four.”

Tony laughs, and says “Alright, Barnes, sit on that bench over there,” he points, “and rest your arm on that desk. DUM-E will be my assistant this evening, and things are bound to be interesting.”

DUM-E rushes over and, to Barnes’ delight, rests his arm on Barnes’ head. Tony ends up being the one to gather the right tools, while Barnes coos at DUM-E and asks him questions that DUM-E cannot possibly answer, but Barnes seems to be getting something out of that conversation anyway. Tony smiles to himself.

“JARVIS, are we ready?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Barnes?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright, let’s roll.”

*

The next morning, Tony has a meeting with the money people, who assure him he’s still a billionaire, and Pepper tells him things are going great with the sales of something Tony’s pretty sure he invented while half-asleep. Still, all he can think is that he’ll be working with Barnes that night and maybe he should order some pudding. 

Maybe he should show Barnes the engine he’s been working on, and the bike he’s fixing for Steve. Maybe Rhodey’s new gauntlets.

“Maybe you should pay attention to what I’m talking about?” Pepper says, but she’s smiling. “Maybe think about the pretty soldier with the cheekbones later?”

“You’ve noticed his cheekbones?”

“Tony…”

*

On the third day of arm repair, Barnes asks a lot of questions about real robots in 2015, and doesn’t look surprised that Tony is the only person who has managed to create learning AIs. Tony is delighted to see that, and though Barnes doesn’t care when it comes to pop culture in general, anything about machines gets his interest.

It’s between questions about the JARVIS and Butterfingers, that Barnes says, quietly, “Um, you should call me Bucky.”

“Yeah?” Tony says, trying not to sound too delighted. So far, only Steve has been allowed to call Bucky that.

“Yeah.”

“Alright, call me Tony.” 

*

“You know, it’s good.” Bucky says suddenly, interrupting Tony’s speech about how weird Thor is in general.

Tony stops where he’s trying not to cut two wires that are too tangled. “What is?”

Bucky makes a gesture with his right hand, encompassing probably all of the tower, “That everyone here is-- Is weird. Different.” He scratches at the back of his neck, making his hair stand up on one side, “That no one expects. I don’t know, that I-- I don’t know. It’s good.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Tony looks back to the wires, “Damaged people understand damage. Weird people understand weird.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Bucky sighs, “You’re not surprised by… bad days.”

“No, we’re not,” Tony says, smiling. “Honey, we’re all damaged here.”

“I see it now, darling.” Bucky smiles.

*

On the fourth day of arm repair, Tony catches himself staring anxiously at the clock. He feels a little ridiculous. A pretty boy is coming over, probably with some sort of candy, and Tony’s got the vapors. Somewhere on the other side of the world, Rhodey’s laughing his ass off.

*

“Do we really need to listen to this noise?” Bucky asks, making a face.

“This is American culture! The best of the best!” Tony makes a face too, just to match.

“It’s noise.”

“The seventies were the greatest year for music, you know--” Tony starts, and he’s pretty sure that even DUM-E sighs from where he’s holding back one of the panel’s from Bucky’s shoulders. “Don’t sigh at me, your overcompensating Armatron.”

“I like seventies music,” Bucky says, smiling at DUM-E reassuringly. Tony sighs. “I like ABBA.”

Tony sputters. “What the fuck.” He says. With a lot of feeling.

“It’s great! Steve introduced them to me,” Bucky says, “I like Fernando.”

“I need to kick that geriatric star spangled ass out of my tower,” Tony rubs a hand over his face, “Really? ABBA? Really?”

Bucky laughs. It’s still a little rough, but it’s amazing to hear. Tony wants to smile too. But won’t. He will not. ABBA?

“Nah, doll, I don’t like ABBA either,” Bucky says, “I just wanted to see your face.”

“That’s cruel, Bucky,” Tony says, breathing an exaggerated sigh of relief. “ABBA, in my tower.”

“I really like the Bee Gees, though.”

*

Tony’s in his forties. But the thing is… Bucky is charming. He’s sassy and sarcastic and just the right amount of a complete asshole. He smiles at Tony and tells him all sorts of ridiculous stories about Steve when they were teenagers. He smiles and scratches at the back of his head with that beautiful metal arm of his when he’s feeling awkward. He calls the ‘bots things like “Amazing!” and “Good boy!” and he looks appropriately impressed by the things Tony invents.

Bucky is a sci-fi nerd who likes watching horrible 80’s movies about robots, likes machines and cars and doesn’t give a shit about the fact that Tony’s a billionaire. And he always looks interested, almost happy anytime DUM-E decides to poke him or hand him tools that he was supposed to be handing _Tony_.

Tony is too old for this crush bullshit, and he’d protest more, maybe even call Rhodey so Tony can complain without being judged much, but then Bucky will wink at him when they’re sharing a joke and Tony’s suddenly useless. Because _a boy winked at him_.

Ridiculous.

*

Things get easier in the tower too, or maybe it’s just that having something to do every day helps Bucky get used to his new home.

JARVIS informs him, gossips really, that Bucky now leaves the tower at least once a day, and a couple of times even without Steve - which gets Steve worried and fretting over like he’s a kid leaving the house alone, every time. Apparently after one of these outings, Bucky returns with art supplies, and gives them to Steve with a card that says _Stop stalking me and get a hobby_. The card gets stuck to the fridge like a kid’s crayon drawing. Steve really does have that aura of helicopter parent.

Tony also happily notices that the only person besides Steve who calls him Bucky is Tony. To everyone else he’s either James or Barnes. Or, in Clint’s case, _asshole_.

Bucky laughs harder too, starts conversation with all of them. He calls Clint names and, though no one but JARVIS will confirm it, they’ve been playing tag in the tower, some sort of special sniper tag, full of insane rules, where the loser has to buy ridiculous amounts of candy for the winner. 

It’s no wonder that on the fourth day of arm repair, Bucky gives Tony a tub of red Twizzlers. Bucky only likes the licorice ones.

*

After about two weeks, the arm is fixed, there’s no delay, the wires were changed, and Tony has added pads on his metal fingers, so he can work touch screens with both hands. 

Usually Tony hates it when people spend too much time in his workshop, but he’s learning now that with the right company, people in his space is not really such a bad thing. Having people in his house, people who like him is great, but having Bucky in his workshop everyday is. Is good. Is very good, and Tony wants him to keep coming back. 

DUM-E is also too attached. He’s taken to wait by the doors every day when it’s time for Bucky to show up, and Tony doesn’t know how to explain to DUM-E that Bucky’s probably not coming back after today, and he’s yet to convince himself not to use DUM-E’s obvious attachment to convince Bucky to show up every day. Maybe DUM-E just needs to look appropriately pathetic.

“Alright, you’re done.” Tony says, closing the last metal plate. “JARVIS, for me, please.”

“Everything seems to be running smoothly, sir.” JARVIS says.

“I’m excellent,” Tony tells Bucky.

“Yes, sir. There’s no match for you.” JARVIS says, dryly. 

“Sarcasm! That’s how you treat your loving, sweet creator?”

Bucky smiles, “I’m sure he was being honest, right, JARVIS?”

“Absolutely, Mr. Barnes. I’d never besmirch sir’s reputation.”

Tony rolls his eyes. “Move your arm around, Bucky. Ignore Skynet.”

Bucky moves his arms, waves at Butterfingers, who waves back. 

“It’s all good,” Bucky smiles at him, eye crinkles and everything. “Thank you, Tony.”

“No problem, like I said, it’s my genuine pleasure to--”

“To poke at me, yeah, I got it, doll.” Bucky gets up and stretches, then reaches for the hoodie he left on one of the desks to put over his muscle shirt.

Tony thinks that if it were anyone else, anyone who isn’t going through so much stuff and figuring out who he is after being treated as a weapon for so long, he’d be asking Bucky out. Even though he and Pepper didn’t work, he believes that friends could be good together as a couple too.

It’s just. Bucky already has too much on his plate.

So Tony offers to order them some pizzas, and Bucky smiles, nods and sits closer to You and Butterfingers while DUM-E is zooming around clearing the tools and obviously showing off to his new favorite human.

*

“You know what is really ridiculous?” Tony says, as soon as Rhodey picks up.

“You whole life?” Rhodey quips, voice a little rough, probably from sleep.

“My whole life, exactly. Thank you for being my assistant tonight.”

“Is this about Barnes again?” Rhodey asks, and there’s a sound of cloth and something shifting. “’Cause I’m a little weirded out by how much you talk about this guy.”

“He calls me doll sometimes, Rhodey!” Tony says, trying to make Rhodey understand the ridiculousness of life. “And sweetheart. Who the fuck even says that?”

“Guys from the Great Depression?” Rhodey asks, and now he sounds like he’s got his face mashed against his pillow. Unbelievable. “Old people who are flirting with you?”

“He’s not flirting with me,” Tony sighs, “He should flirt with me, though.”

“You know what’s really ridiculous?”

“What?”

“You didn’t use to call me in the middle of the night to cry about your crushes when we were in college and you were still going through puberty.” Rhodey says, sounding a little faint. Is he falling asleep? “Are you going through a middle age crisis?” 

And then he hangs up.

*

To Tony’s embarrassing gleefulness, Bucky keeps coming back. 

He seems to add visiting the bots to his routine. Sometimes that just means holding on to tools for DUM-E and talking to Tony, other times that just means watching while all the bots and Tony work on the Iron Man suit.

Tony is happy having Bucky around. He’s glad that Bucky smiles at him, and makes jokes and winks. He winks a lot, and Tony was raised in a blunt, sexually advanced world, this whole 1940’s charm thing is ridiculously unfair. And so effective.

Again, Tony is in his forties. Ridiculous.

But even outside the workshop, Bucky talks to him. When the whole team is gathered in the main living room, or even in the kitchen, Bucky will often sit close and start conversations. Bucky is funny, goes along with Tony’s jokes, and even Rhodey seems reluctantly charmed by Bucky. There’s just something about him.

*

On another rainy night, the whole team, plus Pepper, sit around together and instead of their usual beer, they end up drinking wine. Sam complains about all the things he had to endure from Natasha and Steve during their travel - it’s his nice way of saying _during the time they were looking for Bucky_. Apparently travelling around with Captain America and the Black Widow means spending a lot of time groaning and face palming while Steve does unnecessary parkour, and Natasha appearing out of nowhere to do a lot of also unnecessary backflips. 

They’re sitting by the only fireplace Pepper allowed in the building and drinking wine, eating cheese and popcorn - because Clint’s classy like that -, and generally being very friendly and domestic. The fireplace casts a nice warm light over all of them and Tony feels… something, in his chest area. About having all these people around.

He’s sitting on Bucky’s left side pretending to poke and prod at the metal arm, and listening to Bucky’s rough laughter and the way he mocks Steve endlessly on his other side. He’s idly trying to figure out a way to remove himself from the room, where he can get a breather, and think about things that are not related to Bucky in anyway, when he feels Bucky’s thumb pressing light circles inside his palm. 

He looks up, discreetly because Tony’s nothing if not smooth, but Bucky’s not looking at him, he’s huffing lightly at Natasha’s imitation of Sam’s incredulous face, but his thumb continues gently. And Tony knows all the things that are happening inside that arm, and just how much info Bucky’s actually getting about pressure and temperature, but his face heats anyway and he turns to the conversation, so he can smile and not feel awkward about it. 

He presses his leg closer to Bucky’s and Bucky presses back.

It’s nice. Having people, it’s nice.

*

One day, after a battle that Bucky didn’t participate in and, whenever the subject comes up, seems unsure he’ll ever want to, the quinjet touches down and the team steps out to find Bucky standing there, looking grumpy and worried. He hugs Steve, flicks him on the forehead, says “You’re an idiot, Rogers, what the fuck.” And then he turns and hugs Tony too. 

The whole world is baffling but great for the rest of that day.

*

He’s not as discreet about his crush as he’d like to be. He has a tendency to go overboard with his demonstrations. He keeps doing things for Bucky, things that get Bruce snickering and Steve pinching the bridge of his nose in despair, but that always, always - and isn’t that a relief - make Bucky smile. 

He goes out for drinks with Pepper and comes back with a box of ice cream sandwiches for Bucky, the ones with the good cookies, because Bucky likes those. He orders hoodies with no seams, good socks, a chair that is probably made entirely out of pillows and that Steve says Bucky cannot use to watch movies anymore, because Bucky will always nap. He has Bucky help him beta test computers and devices, gets him video games that aren’t in the market yet and an e-reader loaded with everything JARVIS could find.

Tony is really obvious about it, he just can’t help it. For the right smile, for the right wink, he’d probably give away DUM-E. He cannot even begin to figure out the pattern, but as soon as he does, he’ll start getting Bucky things that reward Tony with the combination of a smile, a wink and a hug. 

Those days are good days.

*

“I feel like he’s imprinted on me,” Tony tells Bruce one day, while he’s tinkering with Bruce’s favorite microscope. “Like I was the first person who talked to him and now he’s all. That, you know, like that way he is with me.”

“Yes, I’m sure that’s it,” Bruce says distractedly from the other microscope. “I’m sure neither Steve nor Sam showed any sign of friendship before you.”

Irrationally, Tony gets really angry about the possibility that Sam Wilson, in all his young, tall and fit glory, could have gotten there first.

“But still, it’d be weird to ask him out now, right? He’s been living here for just a couple of months.” Tony says.

“He’s been living in the tower for almost a year, Tony,” Bruce sighs.

“It’d probably be weird.”

Bruce sighs again.

*

Tony cannot stop thinking about it, though. Because Bucky doesn’t actually smile like that to anyone else. He hugs Tony, and sits closer to him, and what the hell even, asks Tony about his day and the things he made in the workshop, even on days where he was there the whole time Tony was building. He’ll offer Tony a bite of his cake pop, even though Tony’s not a big fan of cake, or frosting.

He sleepily ran his hand on Tony’s hair one morning and Tony couldn’t stop smiling the whole day, even for those two hours he was stuck in a board meeting, and Pepper told him he looked like a creeper.

*

“I want a divorce,” Tony says to Bucky, when he steps in the elevator as Bucky is stepping out. 

Bucky smiles, plucking absently at the shirt he’s wearing, a filthy lying shirt that says, in shiny glittery purple letters, _Hawkeye is the best Avenger_. “Aw, sweetheart, don’t be like that.” He says, with a wink and a smile, the bastard, “You know I didn’t mean it.” 

Tony rolls his eyes, but smiles.

“I better not see birdbrain again, or I’ll scratch his face off,” he tells JARVIS after the elevator doors close and he’s alone again.

JARVIS’ silence is actually very loud.

*

Still, in the end, Bucky is the one who puts a stop in this ridiculous crushing and pining business. Because Tony does the ultimate weird thing and buys Bucky a dozen cake pops.

He’s coming back from a meeting outside the tower when he passes by a bakery that has bouquets of what at first he thinks are weird shaped flowers, but realizes are actually cake pops when he stops to actually look. Cake pops, frosted to look like flowers. He goes into the bakery because he can’t help himself, and buys a dozen of the ones shaped like pink roses, that are birthday cake flavored with white chocolate frosting. 

He thinks they’ll make Bucky laugh.

He doesn’t even think about the fact that those are roses, really. He’s back on his phone before the girl at the counter finished tying the bouquet, and is still finishing last minute details for his next meeting with Pepper and the R&D department when he gets back in the tower.

But Bucky takes one look at them, in their paper wrap and bright green plastic sticks and asks, a little baffled, “Are you--Are these? Are you giving me fake flowers?”

“No,” Tony says, grinning, “I’m giving you cake pops. Because you live for sugar.”

Bucky smiles, then, the big smile with eye crinkles, and bites the top of the closest cake rose. He chews, making a happy, slightly pornographic groaning sound. “You’re giving me cake flowers.”

“I am.”

“And you call _me_ old school.” 

“You _are_ old school.”

“Forty-five,” Bucky teases.

“Flowers are eternal, Bucky,” Tony dismisses, “It wasn’t just a thing in your Edwardian youth.”

“Tony,” Bucky says, tilting his head, still smiling, and Tony cannot stop smiling now. “You’re going to have to ask me out eventually, you know. This wooing thing is great, but--”

“Um,” Tony interrupts, feeling week at the knee. This 1940’s charm thing is brutal.  
“What.” 

Bucky licks his lips and his smile gets wider, happier. Whatever he’s seeing on Tony’s face must be really good. He says, “I understand you’re old…” Tony makes a scoffing noise, “…fashioned, but really, darling, I’m wooed. There’s nothing more to woo here.”

“What, just like that?” So, Tony’s heart is doing something weird inside his chest again. It feels like it wants to come out.

“Yes, are you going to ask Steve for my hand or something? Because I gotta tell you, that’s too old school, even for me.”

“No, I,” Tony breathes, tries for a smooth smile but ends up grinning like a lovestruck teenager. “Sure thing, Bucky. A date, we can do a date. Dating, yes.”

Bucky chuckles, “Yes? Alright.”

Tony nods, “I think it’s important, for world peace, really, that we kiss now.”

“For world peace. Is that so?” Bucky sets the bouquet on the closest table, “I know you’re a big super hero, so you must really understand how to achieve it.”

“I do,” Tony nods, and keeps nodding when Bucky pulls him closer by his jacket. “I understand world peace, and this is necessary. Essential.”

“I believe you, sweetheart,” Bucky says.

And he kisses Tony.

*

Maybe Tony is too old to have a crush, he doesn’t care. Because here’s the thing, the Bucky smiles and the hugs and the winks are great. They are quality material to work with. But the kisses are even better. 

Especially the really long, languid ones that no longer taste like cake, tastes only of Bucky.

Real world peace stuff.

Tony is a genius, he knows what he’s talking about.

*

Crushes, huh? Alright.

*

**End.**

**Author's Note:**

>  _He likes me!_ Tony texts Rhodey, just to be annoying. 
> 
> Rhodey text back, _Oh my gosh_.
> 
> Tony thinks there might be some sarcasm there.


End file.
